Pearl in the Sand

By: Tessa Afshar

Narrated by: Laural Merlington

Length: 10 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

Striking beauty comes at a price. Rahab paid it when at the age of 15 she was sold into prostitution by the one man she loved and trusted—her father. With her keen mind and careful planning she turned heartache into success, achieving independence while still young. And she vowed never again to trust a man. Any man. God had other plans. Into the emotional turmoil of her world walked Salmone, a prominent leader of Judah, held in high esteem by all Israel. A man of faith, honor, and pride. An enemy. What is a woman with a wrecked past to do when she wants to be loved, yet no longer believes it possible? The walls of Jericho are only the beginning. The real battle for Rahab will be one of the heart.

Download the accompanying reference guide.

©2010 Tessa Afshar (P)2011 Oasis

A woman's heart revealed

I wish I'd have been able to listen to this book before I married. I've never read or watched anything that gave such an honest and in depth portrayal of a love story that reached across courtship and deeply into the complications of marriage. For anyone who is or has been married, I would recommend this as a good way to understand your partner and their complex thoughts and fears that contribute to the health of that relationship.
The story was good and well told. It held my interest throughout and I finished the book in a short time as a result. It gave me a lot to think about as well, shining light into some very harsh passages in the Bible which, at a surface level, appear to be God-sanctioned ethnic cleansing. These parts of the Bible have given its detractors ammunition as examples of a wrathful God.
This book used historical context to underline the will of God in detroying the Canaanite civilization as something terrible, but also just. Their society devalued the weak, the alien, the poor, and the young. It also emphasized God's anger at those who persecute the weak and are cruel to children. The citizens of Jericho had a nasty habit of sacrificing their children to their gods. This book took the view that God couldn't abide that sort of thing forever, so He used the nation of Israel to destroy it.

The narrator was very good at portraying the characters, and I also liked her accent, as it went well with the story. The fly in the ointment was the frequent sounds of swallowing and gulping. That should have been sound edited, as it was annoying and distracting. Even with this one detraction, this was still a very worthwhile listen.

Pearl in the sand

Amazing! Tessa Afshar in an incredible historical, biblical fiction writer. This is the story of Rahab, a harlot turned mighty woman of God. If you have ever felt ashamed of your past or had regrets of past choices, then this book is for you. I feel as if God spoke to me through her words.

Good story, Irritating Background Noise

Any additional comments?

I found the story very interesting. I even enjoyed the narrator. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of listening to the story with headphones and the sound of someone chewing and swallowing in the background was VERY irritating.

Good story

Didn't like being able to hear the reader swallow. Didn't like having music between chapters. Liked the story line .

Excellent book!

This is such a great book. The author re-tells the story of Rahab and makes you think about what her life may have been like. It is such a great story of God's love for us and His amazing grace to us while we are still in our sin. I love the story of Rahab because it offers such hope. I have listened to this book twice already and highly recommend it.

Very Good Story

I enjoyed this book very much. It was very compelling. It made me want to read the Biblical account of her life also.

Great Story! Creatively crafted.

Enjoyed the storyline but had a challenge with the music between each chapter - very distracting.

I really like the way different parts of the story connected throughout causing it to all come together. The author weaved interesting bits of biblical and historical facts throughout which aided in creating visual pictures in one's mind.

I was a little put off at times because the narrator's swallowing could be heard during some parts.

Hidden Religion

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would only recommend this book if you do not mind a largely religious story. When I read the description, it was not clear that the entire story is based around religion and a girls finding of God. While I am OK with this, others might be put off.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

The narrator annoyed me. She sounded a lot like a machine at times.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No

.

Great story, I enjoyed Tessa Afshar's work. . Not a great narrator, at times the swallowing was rather disturbing.

Excellent uplifting story of Gods love for us!

The only thing I didn't enjoy about this production is the awful music that loudly droned on. It assaulted my ears and was startling most times because the story had me so involved I didn't realize the chapter was ending. Definitely not needed as this book is WONDERFUL as written and performed.

Beautiful

such a lovely story with huge consequences on history. This is the second time I've listened to it!

Uplifting

I have listened to this story countless times. It is a story of redemption, healing & forgiveness, as well as a beautiful love story.

I loved this book!

I was familiar with Rahav's story and I always found it fascinating. To think that a former harlet was honored by God to be called a woman of faith and to be part of the lineage of our Lord is amazing. Grace is amazing.
I found this book to be spot on. The struggles- to put behind such a past- descriped here were very believable and even though I am aware of the fact that it's mostly fiction, I am sure many parts of this story were at least similar with the history

A must hear/read

Such an amazing story. The Bible doesn’t go into much detail about how Rahab coped once admitted to Israel. Tessa explores the feelings and emotions of Rahab and Salmon; whilst always intermingling God’s character and mercy. I can’t verbalize how much I enjoyed this book. It let me see a version of how our Lord Jesus Christ sees his bride... us, the New Jerusalem.
Thank you Tessa! I felt the Lord speaking to me personally.

Marvellous warms the heart

Once again I loved this beautiful book by Tessa Afshar.
I simply could not put it down.
I sank into the story and related to so many aspects. So not only a story but a teaching too. Thank you.